Comments and  Commentaries
by

Dispensationalists -

Regarding Prophecy

According to a fascinating account in The Sunday School Times, Mussolini himself was interviewed by two Belgian premillenarians, Mr. and Mrs. Ralph C. Norton. Mussolini was asked: "Do you intend to reconstitute the Roman Empire?’" He answered, "One cannot revive a dead empire, nor recall it into being. We can only revive its spirit, and be governed by the same discipline." Mr. Norton began to speak to the Premier of the teaching of the Bible regarding the reforming of the Roman Empire, telling him it was predicted of God, and speaking of the alliance of northern nations that would likewise take place. Mussolini leaned back in his chair and listened fascinated, and asked, "Is that really described in the Bible? Where is it found?" (Armageddon Now, p. 120)

Abeka Books' "Bible Doctrines For Today"
"Evidently, the new Jerusalem is the place we call "heaven." It is the "Father's house" (described in John 14:1-3) that Jesus is preparing for us. It will descend from above at the second coming of Christ and hover over earthly Jerusalem during the Millennium. From that vantage point the glorified saints will be able to rule with Christ for the thousand years. At the end of the Millennium, after the destruction of the earth, this same eternal city will move back to heaven and continue to be the eternal habitation of the redeemed throughout eternity." (Book2, p. 164)
 
 

Louis S. Bauman (1950)

"A whole world in a very frenzy of preparation for the greatest of all wars! Such is the divine revelation of the days immediately preceding the Armageddon. No human being need be told that exactly that describes our day! (The King’s Business, 1950)

"But, behold, we who now live are seeing the most significant event of all the ages—Israel revives-still spiritually dead, yet in his very deadness he stands upon his feet, awaiting the breath of God!" (emphasis mine)
 
 

L. Nelson Bell 
(Father-in-law of Billy Graham; First executive editor of Christianity Today, 1948)

"The solution—let the American Government issue notice to Russia that she is to start the immediate evacuation of all territories into which she has expanded since 1942. Further that at the end of one week one atomic bomb will be dropped in a sparsely settled area of European Russia and another in a like section in Siberia—to prove that we can and will carry out our ultimatum. Then, unless there is clear evidence that our demands are being carried out, at the end of five more days the next bomb will be dropped on the Kremlin with immediate and continued use of the bomb until the present Communist regime is replaced by men who are willing to comply with our demands. After that shocker, he added: We do not expect this suggestion to be put into practice but we make bold to predict that not many years hence we will wish with all our hearts that we had done just this this ("Christian Realism" The Southern Presbyterian Journal January 1, 1948).
 
 

W.E. Blackstone(1916)

"As Israel lost the rule of their land at the beginning of these Gentile times, it would seem that the first terminal date would mark some kind of a beginning of the restoration of the land. Does not this give great significance to the Zionist movement on the part of the Jews and to all that is now being said and done by Gentiles, to secure Palestine for the Jews, in the outcome of the present war?. . .

"How inspiring is the thought that, if 1915 or 1916 shall prove to be the first terminal date, then the nineteen years more to 1934 or 1935 may cover the end time with its whirl of events, including the reign of the "ten kings," the antichrist, the 7-year covenant, the complete destruction of Gentile government, the repentance, forgiveness, and new birth of Israel,—a nation born at once, restored; and under God’s grace and favor to become the center of a world-wide theocracy." ("The Times of the Gentiles" The Weekly Evangel, May 13, 1916, pp. 6-9.)
 
 

John Cumming (1855)

Book Title - The End: The Proximate Signs of the Close of This Dispensation, published in 1855 "The Jews in London are collecting money in order to purchase Palestine at this moment: the Jews in America have collected enormous sums to build the temple again in Jerusalem. (Cumming, Signs of the Times)

"Russia will burst forth, overcome all resistance, march to Palestine; and, unsuccessful in achieving the evil thing it had set its heart upon, God will avenge his own by the most terrific judgments."
 "I do not prophesy; I do not foretell the future; I only forth tell what God has said; but I do feel, that if 1864 be not the close of the age that now is, and the commencement of a better one, it will be a time unprecedented since the beginning—portentous, startling, and terrible to the enemies of God; but glorious, holy and full of joyous scenes to the people of God." (p. 73)

"I do not say our existing complications are the fulfillment; because one does not like to dogmatize; but is it not remarkable that here the prediction is that Rosh, Meshech, Tubal, or Russia in all its divisions, and the descendants of Gomer, or the Germans, should coalesce, and form as one this great confederacy? Does it not look as if the fulfillment were taking place before our eyes? Is not Prussia practically allied to Russia?. . . I may ask, is it not at least, as the most sceptical before me will admit, a remarkable coincidence, that the prediction in Ezekiel, that Rosh, Meshech, Tubal, Gomer and all his bands, should be united together in one great confederacy, is at this moment a historical fact?" (The End, pp.264-265)
 
 

J.N. Darby 

It is absolutely necessary that we should renounce everything. We shall have to do so sooner or later, either with joy by the Spirit of Christ, or with shame when the judgments of God shall break every tie that is still keeping us back. We must then leave everything, or else be burnt up with Sodom. Prophecy has a special power to separate us from this present evil world, which the patience of God can bear, because He is taking His own out of it, but which is judged already nevertheless. (Writings, II.44. Emp added.) - 

"I do not want history to tell me Nineveh or Babylon is ruined or jerusalem in the hands of the Gentiles.  I do not admit history to be, in any sense, necessary ot the understanding of prophecy." (Prophecy and the Church, p. 26)

Jerry Falwell

" I certainly do not believe a vengeful God inspired the Roman army to surround Jerusalem and brutally slaughter hundreds of thousand of Jews. It seems to me that even then the vicious serpent of Anti-Semitism had raised its head. Satan would have liked to destroy the Jews in order to nullify God's promises to them." (Jerry Falwell and the Jews, p. 13-14)
 
 

Arno C. Gaebelein (1949)

"These defense measures being taken by the nations of the West may be the very thing that will incite Russia to war eventually . . . . In a way, the Atlantic Pact is a step toward a world of peace, but not in the manner that Mr. Truman expects; for it may easily be an instrument in bringing about the aggression on the part of the East which will precede the coming of the Lord. Actually, then, the Atlantic Pact may be, first of all, the first step toward war!?" (Our Hope, LVI (1949-50), 160, 162.)
 
 

Dan Gilbert (1944)

"A study of Soviet diplomacy indicates that Stalin is now in the process of building the very Empire outlined in Ezekiel 38-39." (Russia’s Next Move: In /he Light of Prophecy, pp. 9-10.)
 
 

Billy Graham(1984)

"Anybody who's anybody believes that global war is imminent" (Charisma 4/84).
 
 

D. P. Holloway (1949)

"That we are nearing the great battle of Armageddon there can be very little doubt."(The Pentecostal Evangel, 1949).
 
 

Harry A. Ironside (1938)

(On Rev. 16:12)"Who are these kings? It is not necessary to guess. The word for "East" is simply "sun-rising." The kings of the sun-rising! Japan has been known as the empire of the rising sun for a millennium. . . . The puppet king of Manchukuo, possibly Japanese-controlled rulers in other northeastern Chinese territories, perhaps at last an alignment with China itself, and there you have the kings of the sun-rising-all in readiness for the great day of God Almighty-the Armageddon conflict. 

"The tocsin of doom is sounding. The yellow peril becomes more and more ominous. The preparation of the day of the Lord goes on apace. Christian, lift up your head. Your redemption draweth nigh." (The King’s Business, January, 1938)

"Has not this almost taken shape already? Now look at the northern part of the stage. Is there no significance in the apparent determination of Russia to dominate Germany? Take the Church of God out of the world tomorrow, and that confederation might spring into existence at once." ("Setting the Stage for the Last Act of the Great World Drama," Our Hope, LVI (1949-50), 22.)
 
 

Grant Jeffrey

"When Jesus Christ came to earth two thousand years ago He presented to both the Jews and Gentiles a genuine, bona fide offer of the Kingdom of heaven on earth if they would accept Him as their Messiah-King. If they had chosen to accept Jesus and crown Him as their Messiah on Palm Sunday, A.D. 32, He would have entered the Eastern Gate and announce the restitution of all things, the cancellation of all debts and the proclamation of liberty to the captives. It was a genuine possibility that Israel could have accepted Him as Messiah and He would have ushered in the millennial Kingdom. Somehow, Jesus would have been crucified at some later point to fulfill the prophecy and provide salvation of all those who repent of their sins. (Apocalypse, p. 33-34.)

(On The 'peace' of the 'Millennium')

"The final test of man obedience to God will occur when Satan is released to tempt the men and women born during the first one thousand years of Paradise under the rule of the Messiah. Hundreds of millions born in the Millennium will choose to accept Christ as their Saviour and Lord. There will be open sin during the Millennium because Christ "will rule with a rod of iron." Any open rebellion and sin will be dealt with instantly by Christ, the Righteous Judge. Through this final test the Lord will demonstrate that, even under ideal conditions of Paradise under the Messiah's rule in Jerusalem, a great portion of mankind will still harbor rebellious resentment in their hearts.. Satan will be released from the abyss to actively tempt men. These sinners will manifest their rebellion by Joining in Satan's attack on the city of God." (Apocalypse, p.258)
 
 

Salem Kirban (1977)

"We are already living in the AGE OF ANTICHRIST! The world is on the threshold of catastrophe. Scientific advances are really scientific tragedies that will spell chaos, confusion and terror. Within the next 5 years . . . DESIGN YOUR OWN CHILD by going to the "genetic supermarket." YOUR MIND WILL BE PROGRAMMED without your knowing it! Within the next 10 years . . . YOUR BRAIN WILL BE CONTROLLED by outside sources! YOUR MEMORY WILL BE TRANSFERRED into a live embryo. (The Rise of the Anti-Christ, Back Cover)

"Based on these observations, it is my considered opinion, that the time clock is now at 11:59 When is that Midnight hour . . . the hour of the Rapture? I do not know!" (Countdown to Rapture (1977). p. 188)

"if the coming of Jesus is as imminent as most of us think, it would seem reasonable to assume that the Anti-Christ is here.. It cannot be denied that a 'wild beast' has arisen up out of the sea of turbulent humanity and captured world attention and the admiration of revolutionaries. He is closer to the biblical pattern of the Antichrist than anyone who has appeared upon the world scene in the last decade. While we would not go so far as to call Kaddafi the Anti-Christ, he could well play some very important role in the windup of the ages." (Christ for the Nations, Oct. 1981)
 
 

C.S. Lewis (1960)

"Say what you like," we shall be told, "the apocalyptic beliefs of the first Christians have been proved to be false. It is clear from the New Testament that they all expected the Second Coming in their own lifetime. And, worse still, they had a reason, and one which you will find very embarrassing. Their Master had told them so. He shared, and indeed created, their delusion. He said in so many words, 'this generation shall not pass till all these things be done.' And he was wrong. He clearly knew no more about the end of the world than anyone else." 

It is certainly the most embarrassing verse in the Bible. Yet how teasing, also, that within fourteen words of it should come the statement "But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father." The one exhibition of error and the one confession of ignorance grow side by side.... 

The facts, then, are these: that Jesus professed himself (in some sense) ignorant, and within a moment showed that he really was so. To believe in the Incarnation, to believe that he is God, makes it hard to understand how he could be ignorant; but also makes it certain that, if he said he could be ignorant, then ignorant he could really be. For a God who can be ignorant is less baffling than a God who falsely professes ignorance. The answer of theologians is that the God-Man was omniscient as God, and ignorant as Man. This, no doubt, is true, though it cannot be imagined." (Essay "The World's Last Night" (1960), found in The Essential C.S. Lewis, p. 385) 
 
 

Hal Lindsey

"What a way to live! With optimism, with anticipation, with excitement. We should be living like persons who don't expect to be around much longer" (The Late Great Planet Earth [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1970], p. 145). 

"I don’ t like clichés but I've heard it said, ‘God didn’t send me to clean the fish bowl, he sent me to fish.’ In a way there’s a truth to that" ("The Great Cosmic Countdown," Eternity, Jan. 1977, p. 21 ).

"The decade of the 1980’s could very well be the last decade of history as we know it." (The 1980’s: Countdown to Armageddon, p. 8 (emphasis is his); cf. pp. 12, 15.)
 
 

J.L. Martin (1877)

(On Rev. 9:16) "We have a few more than one billion inhabitants on the earth (in 1873). But of that billion about five hundred millions (one-half) are females, leaving an average population of male inhabitants of about five hundred millions; and of that number about one-half are minors, leaving about two hundred and fifty millions of adult males on the earth at a time. But of that number of adult males about one-fifth are superannuated – too old to fight. These are statistical facts. This leaves exactly John’s two hundred millions of fighting men on earth. And when we prove a matter mathematically, we think it is pretty well done. (The Voice of the Seven Thunders: oc Lectures on the Apocalypse(Bedford, IN: James M. Mathes, Publisher, sixth cd., 1873), pp. 149f)

(On Rev. 9:17-19) "John is pointing to the modern mode of fighting on horse-back, with the rider leaning forward, which, to his sight, and to the sight of one looking on at a distance, would appear as the great mane of the lion; the man leaning on his horse’s neck. He would, in fighting with firearms, have to lean forward to discharge his piece, lest he might shoot down his own horse that he was riding. In John’s day the posture was very different. . . . Now, I want to ask my friendly hearers if it is not as literally fulfilled before our eyes as anything can be? Are not all nations engaged in this mode of warfare? Do they not kill men with fire and smoke and brimstone? . . . Do you not know that this is just ignited gunpowder? . . . Could an uninspired man, in the last of the first century, have told of this matter? (Ibid., pp. 151f.) 
 
 

Christabel Pankhurst (1923)

"Current international events are assuredly finger posts to Armageddon." (The Lord Cometh, 1923)
 
 

William L. Pettingill

"I have long ben convinced, and have taught that the Great Commission of Matthew 28:19,20 is primarily applicable to the Kingdom rather that to the church... The Matthew commission will come into force for the Jewish Remnant after the Church is caught away." (Bible Questions Answered, p. 112)
 
 

Charles Ryrie

"How do we make sense out of all those beasts and thrones and horsemen and huge numbers like 200 million? Answer: Take it at face value. " (The Living End, p. 37.)

("face value" hermeneutic of Revelation 9:1-12 (the locusts from the abyss):
"John’s description sounds very much like some kind of war machine or UFO.. Demons have the ability to take different shapes, so it is quite possible that John is picturing a coming invasion of warlike UFOS. Until someone comes up with a satisfactory answer to the UFO question, this possibility should not be ruled out."
 
 

Raymond Schafer(1977)

"At all times Satan has had to have one or more Antichrist candidates waiting in the wings, lest the Rapture come suddenly and find him unprepared. That is why so many malevolent world leaders have had names whose letters added up to 666 when combined in certain ways. (Depending on which 666 formula is used, at any given moment there are several hundred thousand men in the world whose names added up to 666. It is from this large pool of candidates that Satan has traditionally chosen his ‘man of the moment’)" (After the Rapture [Santa Ana, CA: Vision House, 1977], p. 55).
 
 

Scofield Reference Bible (1909)

‘At hand’ is never a positive affirmation that the person or thing said to be ‘at hand’ will immediately appear, but only that no known or predicted event must intervene." ( p. 998, note 3.)
 
 

Oswald J. Smith

"I know very few of the old commentaries that are trustworthy when it comes to prophecy.  nearly all of them spiritualize the predictions of Old Testament prophets and confuse the kingdom with the Church.  hence their interpretations are worthless ("When the King Comes Back" pp. 13,14)

"Isai 11:1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: 2 And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; 3 And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: 4 But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.  5 And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. 6 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. 7 And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 8 And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den. 9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea. 10 And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious. 
None of this was fulfilled at the first advent, and none of it can be spiritualized, for it has no fulfillment in the church, in spite of what the great commentators say.  God did not see fit to enlighten them."
 
 

Lehman Strauss(1963)

"We are witnessing in this twentieth century the collapse of civilization. It is obvious that we are advancing toward the end of the age. Science can offer no hope for the future blessing and security of humanity, but instead it has produced devastating and deadly results which threaten to lead us toward a new dark age. The flightful uprisings among races, the almost unbelievable conquests of Communism, and the growing antireligious philosophies throughout the world, all spell out the fact that doom is certain. I can see no bright prospects, through the efforts of man, for the earth and its inhabitants. ("Our Only Hope," Biblotheca Sacra Vol. 120 (April/June 1963), p. 154.)
 
 

John F. Walvoord (1959)

"the expression 'the day of the Lord' is an extensive time period which includes not only the tribulation and the judgments taking place at the second advent, but which includes also the entire millennial reign of Christ.." (The Millennial Kingdom, p. 273)

"Today we see precisely this setup: Russia about to move on the Middle East; Israel in its place, regathered; the wealth, the spoil of the nations there; the need for possessing the Middle East perfectly obvious to Russia; and the only thing deterring her the fear of our military might." (Moody Monthly, 1959)
 
 

Edgar Wheisnant (1988)

(On The Rapture) "it’s going to be this September" 

"I forgot about the extra year in zero A.D. It’s going to be in September, 1989." 
 

Newspapers / Newsletters
Our Hope(August 1916)
"The time cannot be far off when Russia’s millions, augmented by the armies that she will gather from these other nations, will be thrown by their rulers into Palestine in order to destroy the nation of the Jews."
 

The King's Business (1922)
"The manner of this invasion is given in verse 9, "Thou shalt ascend, and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee." And down in verse 16 we have "Thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land.". . . In half a dozen or a dozen years more (I don’t think it will be a dozen years), some fine morning the inhabitants of Jerusalem will see a great cloud—in a few minutes the cloud will develop a great cloud of airplanes landing tens of thousands of men on the soil of Palestine. Note the expression "they shall ascend."’ How that describes the rising of a fleet of planes." (Thomas M. Chalmers, "Palestinian Mandate Approved? The King's Business, XIII (November, 1922), 1137.)
 

The Prophetic News and Israel's Watch (1888)
"Russia has for ages meditated on the conquest of Asia and India and China. Great Britain, with the United States, stands face to face with this Russian power, and these two sides will come into one final awful struggle. We judge that the tide of Russian conquest will flow on to the frontiers of China . . . . We believe, from the place assigned to Russia in the Word of God, that her legions will sweep over the plains and mountains of Asia and become the dominant power over all the East until she falls forever on the mountains of Judea." (Walter Scott, June 1888)
 

The Sunday School Times
"Is the United States to be the next nation to fall from her present exalted position through her failure to help Israel in this crucial hour when she is surrounded by foes bent on her destruction?" (George T. B. Davis, 1957)
 

The Weekly Evangel
"We are not yet in the Armageddon struggle proper, but at its commencement, and it may be, if students of prophecy read the signs aright, that Christ will come before the present war closes, and before Armageddon . . ..The war preliminary to Armageddon, it seems, has commenced.’ (April 10, 1917)

"The Third Temple as outlined by Ezekiel will assuredly be rebuilt in our own generation." (Evangel,March 26, 1949, P. 10.)

"With so much military activity in and around Palestine it seems that the nations are hastening on to their last great conflict at Armageddon." (March 9, 1940, p. 11.)

"Nine countries of Eastern Europe are already united. The stage is setting for the great battle of Armageddon." ("God and the World Crisis," April, 1948)

"Atomic war will start on, before, or at least by January 1953." (Evangel, May 21, 1949, p. 2.)
 
 

United Evangelical Action

"Joe Stalin is running true to form. He is letting the United Nations know, in unmistakable terms, that he purposes to manage eastern Europe to suit himself. We had all better smile meekly and let him do it; he will anyway. By and by he will decide to run all of Europe and then the world. Let’s hope for at least a decade of peace before he is ready. When it comes, the present conflict will resemble a Methodist love feast in comparison." (As cited in Evangel, February 26, 1944, p. 8.)